Final Fantasy VIII: Requeim of Time
by thedraconicwerewolf
Summary: Squall is a quiet and antisocial teenager. Lately, he's been having the same repetitive dream for the past month. Are they just nightmares meant solely to prevent a good night's rest, or do they hold some kind of hidden meaning that he has yet to realize?


Hello everybody! Welcome to the newest story in my collection of other written stories that were all products of an overactive imagination. I call it, " Final Fantasy VIII: Requiem of Time"! Basically, this is my version of how the story of Final Fantasy VIII played out. It's going to be different from the original, so if you don't like the idea, then go away! Then again, you probably wouldn't be on this site if you didn't want to see all the "what-if's" in all of your favorite games and books and animes that others had come up with.

Keep in mind that as I'm writing this story, I only know how it begins and ends. As such, I have no idea as to what's going to happen in the middle unless I get some sudden inspiration. That just makes it all the more fun for me to write since I'm like all of you in not knowing what's going to happen next. Double the excitement for me! That also means that you're free to make suggestions if you want to. Keep in mind that I won't necessarily go with it, but if I do, I'll give you credit for giving me the idea.

Anyway, I hope that you'll all like the first chapter of this new story. Remember, some characters might be a bit OOC than what you might remember them to be. That's because this is a fan fiction, and it doesn't have to follow the same guidelines as the original idea.

With all this out of the way now, go ahead and enjoy reading the first chapter of this story. Please don't forget to leave a review when you're done. I always read them to see what you think of it and any advice you might give. Until the next update on any of my stories everybody!**  
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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Just Another Typical Morning<strong>

"_You'll never get away with this!_" A voice that sounded like it belonged to a teenager exclaimed in a tone reflecting his resolute will. The teen was hard to see and was terribly blurred along with the background and area, but the clothing was barely clear enough to discern that it was a male. It was almost as if a visually impaired person was stuck in the middle of nowhere with only his ears to guide him.

"_Oh, but I'm afraid that I already have, my dear boy,_" a woman's voice responded in a tone that sounded almost sarcastically motherly. She, too, was also blurry yet not so much so that her womanly figure was unrecognizable. "_You can't hope to stop something like this once it's been put into motion. But don't worry; you and your friend behind you won't remember a thing when this is all over._"

"_Not before I make you pay for what you did to my best friend!_" the teenager responded as he raised his arm that looked frighteningly similar to that of a sword and brandished it threateningly at the woman. Despite the blurriness, the blade seemed to have held a sort of brilliant shining quality to it. And somewhere in the blurry background was an equally blurry lump that looked suspiciously like a person with blood gushing from his head. "_He's dead because of you, and I'll have my revenge on him if it's the last thing I do!_"

"_Unfortunately, the last thing you'll be doing is watching the last moments of your life unfold,_" the woman said in what sounded like to be fake sadness. "_But I suggest you worry naught about that. After all, you soon won't remember a single thing about this, and you'll be able to live your life over again as if all this never took place. Don't you think that would be more than a generous gift from me to you? After all, it's clear that the death of your comrade has truly taken a toll on you._"

"_And it's with his death that I swear vengeance on him and strike you down where you stand!_" the teen all but shouted angrily as he charged right at the woman with his brilliant sword at the ready. "_You can keep your so called gift and take it to the afterlife once I'm through with you. Prepare to die by radiance of my blade that has sworn to avenge all those that you have murdered in cold blood!_"

"_It's a shame then that your sweet thoughts of fruitless vengeance must come to a sudden end,_" the woman stated in a mock regrettable tone as the teen rushed towards her in both anger and determination. A second later, a blinding light suddenly engulfed the entire room just as she raised her hand to the air.

"_What the…?_" he exclaimed as he was forced to stop in his tracks and shield his eyes. Unfortunately, that was all it took for him to be distracted and feel something sharp and ice cold pierce right through to his body. Gasping at the suddenness, he stumbled backwards before falling down right next to his fallen comrade. Once the light had dissipated, he saw a large shard of pure ice poking out through his body. He also noticed unconsciously through his peripheral vision that he was right next to his fallen comrade. This, of course, was the last thing on his mind as he thought in an unusually calm way how he was going to survive an insanely large shard of deathly cold ice running through him.

"_How does it feel to know that your futile act of vengeance has ended up writing the pages of your own demise?_" the woman asked as she stood still at her spot with her arm outstretched towards the teen. Apparently, it was with that small and simple gesture that she managed to conjure up the magical ice from out of seemingly thin air. "_Does it feel wonderful to know that you'll soon be reunited with those who have stood in my way and that you futilely swore to avenge? Of course, I could spare your life if you only agree to work for all eternity for me. How does that sound, your life for eternal service to me?_"

Instead of answering, the teen used what was left of his quickly dwindling strength and threw his sword like a javelin right at her. With an amused chuckle, she brought her hand towards her body before shooting it out again. In so doing, a great bolt of electricity emanated from her hand and struck the blade head-on. As such, it stopped in its tracks and fell helplessly to the ground with a dejecting clatter.

"_I see that you refuse my offer. You choose to hang onto whatever little life you have left running through your veins and attempt to accomplish what you came here to do. Fortunately for you, I must give you the gift of rebirth in order for my plans to come to fruition. After all, I'm sure it's because of it that you decided to infiltrate my humble abode in hopes of destroying me along with my plans._"

Without saying anything since his voice was refusing to work, the teen mustered the best rebellious look he could despite the pain that was starting to permeate all through his body. The simple action was made even harder as he felt his mind starting to haze over and the edges of his vision turning dark. No matter how he willed it, the darkness continued to creep closer towards the center and threatened to engulf his sight.

"_Rest now, and allow yourself to be embraced by the arms of darkness. All will be better soon, and you shall soon forget everything that has taken place. Everything that you ever lived for and by along with your ever precious memories shall be erased from your mind; and you will unwittingly start your life all over without even knowing it. But that's merely a small price to pay for you to forget the transgressions of the past few minutes._"

Soon after he heard those words, the sounds surrounding him in his now complete darkness soon faded away and he was now completely alone within the recesses of his mind. It was a place where no light or sound of any kind would ever penetrate, and it was also a very cold and lonely place that even the most loneliness of men would dread to ever be in and stay. He then felt his body seemingly becoming detached from himself and had the feeling that he was floating. And he continued to have that feeling until…

"…Gah!" the sound of a teenager's gasp of surprise was heard as chocolate brown eyes quickly opened in surprise. He was currently lying down on his bed in his blue boxers and plain white shirt with the covers kicked all the way to the foot of the bed and recovering from the crazy dream he just had. His forehead was slightly damp from sweat due to the rather realistic nightmare he had just suffered through; although it could have also stemmed from the warm summer air that made his room uncomfortably humid and barely suitable for sleeping. That or it could have been from a combination of both.

_Damn, another one of those weird dreams,_ he wondered idly as he allowed his body to relax and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before turning onto his side and looking at an alarm clock on the bedside table. _It's seven already? No point in going back to sleep since I have to get up in half an hour._

With a small audible sigh escaping his lips, he sat up on his bed and ran a hand through his dark brown hair before swinging his legs over the side. The slightly cool feeling of the tiled floor beneath him was more than a welcome relief for his hot feet that had unfortunately took refuge under the covers the entire warm night. With another small sigh, he stood up and stretched his arms a bit until he heard and felt the satisfying feel of his shoulders popping. He then made his way towards his window and opened the blinds, thus allowing the dull rays of the slowly rising sun enter his room and provide some natural illumination. This, unfortunately, caused him to be temporarily blinded by the sudden introduction of light to his eyes that were still adjusted for darkness.

_Looks like another damn sunny day today, which means another damn ass hot day that I'll have to suffer through,_ he thought with a mental sigh. He then added with a small frown as he turned towards a wooden dresser situated against the wall right next to the window, _God, that dream must've really ruined my morning today. I've already sighed three times in less than three minutes. I better get myself ready for the day while I still have what's left of my daily sanity for the day._

Taking out a clean white shirt, a clean pair of boxers, and a pair of black pants with the belt already on it, he closed the drawer and headed off towards an open door in his bedroom. It was clear that this was the bathroom if not for the sight of the shower tub standing in plain view of the doorway. Once in, he closed the door behind him and began to strip away his night clothes before putting them into a hamper stuffed into a corner so as to take up as little space as possible in the already slightly small, beige colored bathroom.

_Might as well take a shower since I still have an hour before I leave,_ he idly thought as he stood over the toilet and relieved himself. _I really need to cool off after suffering a night's worth of hot and deadly sleep. That and it should help keep my mind off of that stupid dream I keep having on and off for the past few weeks._

Once he was done, he flushed the toilet and immediately went to turn on the shower and jumped into the stream of water. Naturally, the water was practically cold as ice being that it was just turned on, but he did not mind the sharp cold sting in the slightest. In fact, he always preferred to have cold showers in the morning unless it was one of those crazy cold winter days where he would have to settle for a lukewarm shower. And besides, it was also a good way to counteract the warm morning air that had permeated into his living quarters and made the atmosphere rather uncomfortable.

After spending ten minutes washing off the sweat that had accumulated onto his body during his sleep and getting all those annoying snares out of his thick lock of hair, he turned off the shower and exited the shower area. He made sure to stand on a shower mat so as to not slip and crack his head wide open in the process. That almost happened one time, and he thanked his lucky stars that he accidentally left the bathroom door open or he would have split his forehead open by hitting the doorknob.

_That's something I don't want to repeat anytime soon,_ he thought with a snort at the memory as he grabbed a towel from a nearby rack and began drying his hair. Once that was done, he patted his arms and upper torso dry before wrapping it rightly around his waist. He then moved towards the sink and grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste in preparation for brushing his teeth. _Near-death experiences are something that I want to save for when I get my chance to do some field work. And even then, they aren't something I want to go experiencing anytime soon until I'm a lot older._

After spending another couple of minutes brushing, he rinsed out his mouth and cleaned his brush before putting it back where it was. He then unwrapped his towel and dried up his lower body which was still somewhat damp with shower moisture. Hanging it back onto the rack when he was done, he quickly put on his clothes and left his bathroom with his mind set on preparing to leave his quarters.

_I still don't understand that stupid dream I had last night,_ he wondered with a frown on his face as he sat on his bed and pulled out a pair of simple black shoes from underneath. He then continued to think as he slipped them on and tied them, _One would think that they'd dream of something else after seeing the same thing on and off for a month. It's almost as if some kind of higher force is trying to play a sick joke on me._

Once he felt they were securely tied onto his feet, he opened his bedside dresser drawer and pulled a few things out from it. They consisted of a pair of black gloves that looked to have been specially made for wielding swords, a silver chain necklace with a platinum lion pendant on it, and a silver infused platinum ring with the head of a lion engraved onto it in high-relief fashion. He carefully put on his gloves before placing the chain over his neck and then his ring over his left gloved middle finger. When put against the ebon color, the jewelry went in brilliant contrast with his and was clearly being showed off.

_Better get down to the cafeteria and get some breakfast,_ he thought as he walked towards a closed door that had a black fur laced collar jacket hanging off of it. He quickly grabbed it and put it without bothering to zip it up before reaching a hand on the doorknob. He would have to be asking for a death wish if he zipped it and created a dome of heat within him that could literally make him pass out, but he just did not feel comfortable without it resting over his shoulders when out in public. To him, it was almost like the feeling of being naked in front of everybody in that he felt somewhat insecure. With it now on him, it inadvertently seemingly made his silver necklace stand out a bit more against the white background that was his shirt. _I'm going to need it if I'm planning on surviving today's heat wave. Don't want to end up like that junior classman yesterday who worked himself to exhaustion and being forced to spend the night recuperating in the medical station._

As he began to open the door, he realized that he was forgetting something. He then immediately turned around and walked over to his dresser. On top of it were a black wallet with a lion design on the front, a small handheld machine of some sort, and a card with a picture and writing on it. Naturally, the picture looked just like the teenager; dark brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a hard look on his face along with some other information on the side. It was clear that this was an I.D. card tailored just for him, and the name "Squall Leonhart" was seen typed on the top over a round symbol.

_Can't forget to bring these with me,_ the teen named Squall thought with a huff of his breath as he pocketed his wallet in an inner pocket of his jacket and the machine in his pants pocket. He then placed his I.D Card in a jacket pocket placed right over his chest so he would have quick access to it at any given time. _School's really starting to make me bring these every day since I'm going to be taking the field test soon. I guess identification is important when performing field work, so they make us make it a habit of carrying it. Can't say that it's really a bad thing, however._

After making sure that he really had everything that he was going to need on him, the teenager now known to be Squall walked back towards the door. Just as he was about to leave, however, he heard a phone that was located somewhere in his room. He did not bother to turn around to pick it up and closed the door behind him, feeling content to let whoever was calling him to keep on waiting for nobody.

_If it's really important, then they'll just try to call me on my communicator later,_ he thought as he made sure the door to his living quarters was adequately locked. He was now outside in what seemed to be a hallway situated in an outdoor setting with no walls blocking the view of the outside. Trees could be seen on one side with well-tended bushes while the other held what seemed to be brick tables and chairs forming what could easily be defined as a quad area. And in this quad area were a few people dressed similarly in black short-sleeved shirt and pants uniform either talking with each other or reading from whatever they brought with them. Squall simply continued down the hallway without any detours and dead set on getting to the cafeteria for some breakfast.

_Up so early and already studying their heads off or thinking of new rumors to gossip about today,_ he thought with an inaudible sigh without giving the group of people much consideration. _Either they just like waking up early just to meet with others before school, or they're just in a habit of waking up early and have nothing better to do. They could at least eat some breakfast before they crash later and get chewed out by their instructors. I doubt they had any since the cafeteria just opened about five minutes ago. The last thing any of them would want now is to fall asleep during class, especially if they're planning to be taking the same field test I'll be taking sometime today._

A couple of seconds later, he was rudely torn away from his thoughts by the sound of a phone ringing. Knowing where it was coming from because of a slight vibration in his pants pockets, he took out the small machine he took from his room earlier and pressed something on it before putting it to his ear.

"Who's this?" the teen bluntly asked in a semi-deep tone without bothering to introduce himself as he continued to walk down the hallway towards a set of doors led him to his intended destination. He then added in a strong threatening tone, "And don't even think about hanging up if this is a crank, because I can trace it back to you and give you hell."

"_This is your instructor, Squall,_" the person on the other side of the line stated, clearly ignoring the rude comment combined with a harshly blunt tone. It was clear from the vocal pitch that it was a woman he was talking to and that she was remarkably calm despite having been talked to so rudely. "_I see that you're already out of your room going to wherever it is you're going to since I didn't catch you in your room. And it sounds like you're having another one of your interesting mornings._"

"…I've told you already that I prefer to be called 'Leon', Instructor Quistis," the teen reminded the other with an annoyed sigh as he opened the door and entered an indoor hallway. Instead of the concrete ground that he had walked on outside that was slightly dusted with dirt, the inside had linoleum monotonous colored floors that seemed to have been cleaned and waxed daily to keep the everyday grime from ever marring its pristine beauty. "It's only because the school officials refuse to put that on my I.D that I was forced to identify as Squall. And what are you calling me so early for?"

"_I can only imagine how bluntly you speak with others outside of class and how you always correct them about your name,_" the woman that was addressed as Quistis stated in an equally blunt tone that was clearly meant to be fun and light mockery. "_Don't forget that I'm an instructor and have reasons to be up earlier than when you probably woke up this morning. Anyway, I just wanted to call and remind you that you'll be participating in the SeeD field exam later today and to not take too long preparing for it. You don't want to suffer through the written portion of the exam again next year just because you failed to assemble on time. I've seen students fail simply because of tardiness._"

"…Whatever," Leon simply stated in an indifferent tone as he ignored a couple of students that passed by and greeted him. "I don't need you to remind me about it. I wouldn't miss this even if the world were freezing over."

"_Still, a friendly reminder is always good to get, especially if it comes from an instructor who's eager to see you pass this. And besides the reminder, I also called to say that you'll be excused from all of today's classes in lieu of your field test,_" she added as the sound of papers rustling and light background chatter reached the phone. "_Just make sure you meet up at the lobby after classes are over for your test assignment. Make sure you're not doing anything of dire importance before you're to assemble._"

"Thanks for telling me that I don't have any classes now that I'm already up and past halfway to the cafeteria," Leon responded in a heavily annoyed tone before prematurely hanging up on the instructor to further express his annoyance. He then thought to himself as he put the communicator back into his pocket and took a right at a fork he had approached, _Could she possibly be any later in telling me that? I woke up early for nothing. Then again, that stupid dream would've kept me from going back to sleep anyway like it always does. I wonder, though, if she was just doing that on purpose just to drive me nuts._

With more silent thoughts running around his head and not bothering to vocalize them in any way possible, he continued on down his path until he reached a new fork in the hallway. This one had a sign next to one of the paths that happened to say "Cafeteria" on it. Taking the path pointing him to his destination, he continued to think about the events that had taken place in such a short amount of time. They were not really things to be of great concern to be thinking about, but it was something to keep his mind off of the same recurring dream he had been suffering through for a while. And while he did not like to think too much in general, this was one of those rare times where he would make an exception.

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><p>Yep, I thought it would've been cool to start out the story with a dream so as to kind of throw you all off a bit. Amazing how the dream seemed so real and kept repeating in Squall's head, isn't it?<p>

Anyway, since I knew that he doesn't really talk a lot in the game, I thought I'd reflect that a bit by keeping his phone call with Quistis short and sweet. Of course, I gave him a lot of thoughts running through his mind. Being that he's introverted, it's only natural that he keeps most of his thoughts within. That and it helps the story not become so weighted with mainly descriptions and no insight on the characters.

Secondly, you probably noticed that I have Squall preferring to be called Leon. That's because I first became introduced to this game when I played the first Kingdom Hearts game seven years ago. I only started playing Final Fantasy VIII five years ago. As such, I'm attached to his Kingdom Hearts name. However, I'm not just going to abandoned his birth name. It'll pop up from time to time being that it's on his I.D. card.

Now that those two things are out of the way, I can finally leave this chapter alone and happy. I hope that you all enjoyed it as much as I had writing it. Don't forget to leave a review once you're done reading so I'll know what you all think about it. Until the next update on this or any of my other stories here!


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